Books by Arturo Longoria

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

CHOOSING ONE COW PIE OVER ANOTHER

Got up, drank a cup of coffee, and then waded through the latest
news. Nothing’s changed. Oh yes, an election cycle was recently
completed. As usual the candidates on both sides made their speeches,
accused each other of terrible wrongs, kowtowed to the easily duped, and
otherwise promised the moon, mars and a few other planets. One candidate
lost and one won. I kept thinking of two fresh cow pies served up at a
barbecue and the people being told “Take your pick.” And then, for
whatever nonsensical reason most of the people chose to eat one cow pie over the
other. Nobody won. After all, every cow pie is more or less like
the other. You’d know these things if you lived in the Brushlands and
have encountered tens of thousands of cow pies in your life. But
anyway—and as amazing is it sounds—some people are actually celebrating their
cow pie. Can you believe it? “We got a great cow pie!” they
proclaim loudly. Meanwhile back here in the woods I walked away from the
daily news wondering why I even bothered to look in the first place. Yup,
nothing has changed and nothing will change. Partisans, of whom there are
legions these days, will never figure it out. I’m not a Bible thumper by
any means, but I’m reminded of a text from the book of 2 Timothy. The
text (4:3) says, “For the time will come when
people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear.” New International Version.
Makes sense to me; or at least that’s what I’ve seen for too many years to
think otherwise. The only difference nowadays is that things just keep
getting worse. It’s an established fact (sorry no attribution but you can
look it up) that the United States is no longer a Democracy or even a true
Republic. Instead, it’s become an Oligarchy where elected officials and
bureaucrats collude with corporate plutocrats to control everything and in the
process make sure they get their riches at the expense of the people.
It’s Capitalism gone amok. Just remember (don’t forget) that when
Capitalism goes amok you always end up with Fascism. If Oligarchs could
get away with it they’d take away our Federal Lands; they’d drill the Arctic
into oblivion; they’d frack every inch of ground; they’d pollute with no
remorse; they’d have it all. No feelings of guilt or anxiety or an
angstrom of morality. It’s all about accumulating riches no matter what
the cost to the people or the land. I just spotted a great big golden
fronted woodpecker attempting to break into a tiny house-wren’s box nest.
There’s a metaphor, perhaps something seriously symbolic there; I’m just not
quite sure what it is. In the meantime I’m thinking about going for a
walk: The old Woods Roamer needs to get back into the deep woods. It’s a
cloudy, cool day, not a breath of wind, and soundless. The afternoon is
fading fast and I want to be about a mile from here in a thick patch of
mesquites, ebony and brasil brewing up some coffee as the darkness creeps in
through the trees. I’ll have my dogs with me and they make for better
company than most of the people I know who only want to talk politics and
degrade everyone around them. Jeez, another Bible text comes to mind,
“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
Matthew 7:5 New International Version

Lots of people telling me they’re stacking up
on guns and ammo. Giddy they are as they prepare for the Great War,
the big collapse, their longed for chaos and anarchy. But those same
folks won’t last two weeks without electricity, running water, their Talk Radio
stations, their favorite “news” network, their Internet service, no medicines,
and no packs of cigarettes. So in the meantime I’ll try to stay as
hid out as possible. I thoroughly enjoy my little
shop. Pounding out red/orange steel into various things from hooks
to tongs to knives. I’ve been lax on this blog
thing. Lazy I guess. I’d rather walk the woods or pound
steel. Besides, this last election was as nutty as they get and I'm
feeling as if things are getting a bit too clear. A real eye
opener. Seems that there’re more easily duped folks out there than
ever before. Maybe not. By the way, did I tell you I’ve
got a new book coming out in about four or five weeks? You’re going
to like this one. Lots of bushcraft and woods roaming and about
living isolated. One more note: I'll get back to you this weekend and
discuss another reason things are going into the gutter.

8 comments:

I love this blog! You put into words what in thinking and feeling in my head. While this post may seem glum, I'm not disheartened because that same book you quote talks about a God who plans to resurrect all that is broken.

Perhaps that's because historians are not trained in science and do not understand the universal nature of mechanisms and how that applies to the study of Capitalism, and everything else for that matter. Nonetheless, I figured someone would ask this question so my next post (or the one following) will explain this in detail. Thanks